A Bardic Idea

[Cheka Man]

I got the idea last night, a magical instrument that when it is played and a good enough ode is sung, what happens in the ode happens. (So a song to sink a ship would be like the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" for example.)

[Murometz]

That is a pretty cool idea!

[chronoplasm]

If it's something the players would be able to get, it sounds like it might be a bit broken.
Even storywise, it sounds like the kind of thing to kill dramatic conflict.

There needs to be some kind of catch.

[Maggot]

Maybe the ode affects the wrong people? For example, if someone is stabbed during the ode, instead of the victim being the adventurer's enemy, it turns out to be his mother, girl friend, etc..

[manfred]

One limitation we thought of in the chat, was the need to sing the song in its entirety - which can be hard even if the victims/targets of the song don't try to resist. We figured that if the song was disrupted, the conjured situation would turn against the bard. (Not counting whatever chaos ensues if the song is interrupted mid-sentence. )

[Chaosmark]

Possibly someone else could slip into the song, and replace the original singer if interrupted, shaping the spell to their own ends, for good or ill.

[manfred]

An interesting option... of course, the new singer would have to take over the instrument smoothly as well.

[Chaosmark]

Certainly. Of course, if the instrument was a wind, then it would be much more conducive to this option.

[Cheka Man]

Added but within a scroll thread rather then as a full submission.